Lexington, SC (Paul Kirby) - Suri Sefcik, 11, of Lexington, recently competed in the Figure Skating at the State Games of America. The games were hosted by Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. After competing against 10 other girls in her division, Suri was awarded a Silver Medal on August 2, 2019.
In order to qualify, Suri competed in the 2019 Powerade State Games of North Carolina where she took the Gold. The 2019 State Games of America in Lynchburg attracted approximately 14,000 competitors. Most recently, the largest State Games of America was held in Lincoln, NE with over 15,000 total participants.
Suri has been skating for just a year and a half! Her home rink is the Plex Hi/Wire in Irmo. There, she’s coached by Elena Kvitchenko Cockerell.
According to Coach Cockerell’s bio, she is a former pairs skater who represented the Soviet Union. She skated with Rashid Kadyrkaev, and the couple were the 1986 Prize of Moscow News champions. She was also a three-time Soviet national bronze medalist, and later toured with Dorothy Hamill's Ice Capades.
According to their website, the State Games of America is an Olympic-style event featuring competition between State Games medal winners (gold, silver, bronze) from across the nation. There are currently 30 states conducting or organizing statewide sports festivals known as State Games.
The games are hosted every two years on the odd year. The State Games of America have been conducted biennially since 1999. Host cities have included St. Louis, MO, Hartford, CT, Colorado Springs, CO, San Diego, CA, Hershey-Harrisburg, PA, Lincoln, NE, Grand Rapids, MI, and now Lynchburg, VA.
Congratulations Suri!
